"Yes, eldest sister, this time the imperial court sent hundreds of thousands of troops to go on an expedition, and the eldest son of the official, Prince Huan, was personally in command. You have to believe that Chang Wu and the eldest brother-in-law will return in triumph, and when the time comes, they will be granted the title of wife
Yinzi, sister, you can also follow me and get a royal title." Mrs. Changwu comforted Hua Lan along with her.
"It's not that I don't understand, this is the fate of warriors like Chang Wu and your eldest brother-in-law. They only gain fame from their horses and make contributions on the battlefield. But I still can't help but worry about how the battlefield is bloody and the sword has no eyes. How could this happen?
Don’t let anyone miss you.”
Of course Hualan understands the truth, but this is not something that will stop worrying if you understand the truth.
The Zhou Dynasty sent troops to resist the invasion of Xixia, so Hua Lan was not the only one who was worried at home.
The total number of families of soldiers and civilians numbered at least hundreds of thousands.
Everyone was on tenterhooks, almost in the same state as Hua Lan.
If this is really just a show arranged by Zhao Zongquan, the cost of mobilizing hundreds of thousands to play this big show is still quite high.
"Chang Wu and my eldest brother-in-law are very skilled in martial arts and have good horses and horses. They can easily kill the enemy..."
"Even if the battle is really defeated, veterans on the battlefield told me that if you really encounter a defeat and want to save your life, you don't need to run faster than the enemy. Just running faster than your teammates is enough."
Sheng Changbai analyzed the two people from all aspects and all aspects, and found that Sheng Changwu and Yuan Wenshao were not so prone to danger.
I just told two people that maybe this invasion was all a fiction by Zhao Zongquan.
This finally comforted Hua Lan's fearful mind a little.
The child's full moon party was completed in a relatively relaxed atmosphere.
"The Gu family is making noises about inheriting the title again."
"Gu Qin is either going to various noble families now to establish relationships, or she is going to the imperial city to find the Queen Mother."
"Now, the title of Marquis Ningyuan has been passed down three times among the three sons of the Gu family in this generation alone."
After the imperial army set out to resist Xixia, the most active person in Bianliang City was Gu Tingye's stepmother, Xiao Qin.
Although Gu Tingye lost his title of Marquis of Ningyuan.
But it doesn't mean that the Gu family will lose the title of Marquis Ningyuan.
If you can lose your title so easily, the founding title of Zhou Dynasty is too worthless, and it is not enough to reward the generals who worked with Taizu from south to north to bring peace to the world.
Gu Tingye only committed a personal crime, not collaborating with the enemy or treason, and could not affect the Gu family as a whole.
According to the nobility rules of the Great Zhou Dynasty, if Gu Tingye made a mistake and was deposed from the title, there would be no problem.
However, this title still needs to be returned to the Gu family, and another descendant of the Gu family who has made no mistakes will be chosen to inherit the title.
According to the succession order of the Gu family title, after removing Gu Tingye, it is the turn of Gu Laosan, Gu Tingwei, the biological son of the Xiao Qin family.
So during this period of time, Xiao Qinshi was jumping up and down and moving around, just to get Zhao Zongquan to return the title of Marquis of Ningyuan to the Gu family so that his biological son could inherit it.
Of course, Xiao Qin has traveled all the ways and has no intention of looking back on his family's title.
They were all sent back by all parties because Zhao Zongquan was still angry with Gu Tingye.
Seeing this, Sheng Changbai couldn't help but think that this was Gu Tingye's title, and Zhao Zongquan was still keeping it for Gu Tingye.
If Gu Tingwei really inherited the title, Zhao Zongquan would not be able to become a hereditary marquis to compensate Gu Tingye.
Gu Tingye's merit alone, no matter how Conglong he is, no matter how overestimated he is, is not worthy of a hereditary title.
Regardless of the aspect, it is impossible to agree to Zhao Zongquan's willful reward.
Of course, Xiao Qin didn't know the inside story, but he kept working hard, hoping to calm Zhao Zongquan's anger and get the title back for Gu Laosan.
Realize your ultimate goal of marrying Gu Yankai.
After that came Renzong's grand auspicious ceremony, the solemn second anniversary ceremony, and the old emperor's funeral. This was all over.
During this period, except for Xiao Qin, who was a little jumpy, no one else did anything.
After Renzong and Daxiang, it was the Shuori Dynasty again, and the Queen Mother chose to take the initiative:
"Emperor, the great auspicious ceremony of the late Emperor has passed, and it is time for the issue of the title of King Xian Shu to be discussed."
"Now that there is a war in the northwest, everything should be based on state affairs. The issue of naming King Xianshu is just my personal matter. I will put it aside for now. After the war in the northwest is over and the court is stable, we will not discuss it again.
Late."
Zhao Zongquan defeated Gu Tingye, and his son took away an army of 100,000 people, as well as many grassroots generals he had won over.
Now the power and prestige are not as good as they were last year. I know that if I mention this again at this time, no one will support me.
So I said these words in an upright manner, but in fact I still resorted to dragging the child.
There was no intention of deliberately irritating the Queen Mother.
"Your Majesty, the entire court is busy with the military affairs in the northwest. The matter of King Xianshu's title really shouldn't be mentioned at this time."
It was Han Zhang who was the first to stand up and support Zhao Zongquan.
It would be worthwhile if Zhao Zongquan treated Han Zhang more kindly. A dignified prime minister is now acting like a pawn of Zhao Zongquan.
"The empire of the Great Zhou Dynasty does not only have one northwest. If the northwest is always at war, then the court will not do anything. The issue of the title of King Xianshu should have been discussed last year. It has been delayed for a year now.
, keep dragging it down, how long does the emperor want to drag it on, until this old woman like me is gone?"
At this time, the Queen Mother was obviously a little angry on purpose.
Knowing that now is the best time, even in recent times, when Zhao Zongquan was at his weakest in all aspects, he did not agree to be dismissed.
The Queen Mother had already said this, so Zhao Zongquan stood up in a hurry, bowed to the Queen Mother and said: "I don't dare, what are you talking about? The Queen Mother has always been in good health, so she can live a long life."
Although she really doesn't want to recognize the cheap mother like the Queen Mother, Zhao Zongquan has completely evolved into a political creature.
When the two people still maintain a mother-child relationship and have not cleared up the relationship.
On the surface, Zhao Zongquan still wants to be a filial son.
Especially in front of civil and military officials and ministers, the superficial "filial piety" must be done well.
Zhao Zongquan generally disobeyed the Queen Mother in action and verbally, even in the harem, not in front of the ministers, and never directly contradicted the Queen Mother.
"You don't have to live a long life. If I really live that long, wouldn't I become an old goblin and become even more annoying?"
The Queen Mother spoke directly. It can be seen that in the past two years, she has accumulated a lot of dissatisfaction with Zhao Zongquan.
"My son, you must not dare." Zhao Zongquan bowed again and replied.
"If you don't dare, how could it be that the title of King Xianshu has not been decided for so long? Is it possible that the troops in the northwest have no time for the courtesy officers?" The Queen Mother was extremely strong.
"Your Majesty, I would like to ask you to discuss your title first."
"My lord, I second the proposal..."
Led by Qi Heng, the Queen Mother's supporters stood up first.
Then Sheng Changbai and other Huangbo factions also stood up to support.
"Xixia invaded the border and lost several cities. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers fought with foreign tribes. At this time, I am asked to honor my biological father. I really can't do it. There is no need to mention this matter again."
Zhao Zongquan still firmly refused, and he still had a great advantage in having the final say.
When you want to do something, you can do it at any time.
When you don't want to cause trouble, you can always avoid talking about it.
“Your Majesty’s Holy Ming (Your Majesty’s Holy Ming)!”
The emperor was not really alone. Prime ministers and deputy prime ministers such as Han Zhang and Ouyang were all supporters of the emperor.
Although there were only a small number of people, only a quarter of the people in the court, they all came to support and gained momentum.
"If nothing happens, just retreat from the court and work hard when you return to the Yamen. You must ensure the food and logistics for the frontline troops."
After Zhao Zongquan directly pushed the matter aside, he ended the court meeting like a hooligan without giving anyone a chance to speak.
Although the Queen Mother's initiative to attack this time was unsuccessful, the fact proved that the Queen Mother is now at an advantage in the battle for the Imperial Examination.
With confidence, the Queen Mother naturally became much more active.
He frequently summoned courtiers and family members.
Although it is not convenient to have a banquet, drinking tea and chatting can still communicate feelings.
Compared with her silence some time ago, the Queen Mother is now obviously more willing to make her voice heard and show her presence.
On the emperor's side, it was not that he did not take action. He sent a group of people led by Han Zhang to take turns lobbying the Queen Mother.
The Queen Mother was able to live with Renzong for decades, and her influence on Renzong was actually not small.
In addition to being kind-hearted and not bothering with material matters, he also really cares about the Zhao family's fortune and has a sense of the overall situation.
It's hard to say how much effect it will have on the Queen Mother to be moved by emotion and understand things rationally, but it will really have some effect.
I want the Queen Mother to give up, and it is impossible to object to honoring King Shu as the emperor.
But for the sake of the overall situation, it is not impossible for the Queen Mother to temporarily put it on hold because the northwest is using troops.
"Yuan Ruo, Mr. Han has been frequently going to the harem to meet the Queen Mother recently. What do you want?"
In order to understand clearly what the purpose of Han Zhang's frequent visits to the harem during this period was, Sheng Changbai approached the Queen Mother's confidant Qi Heng.
"Why else is it that Mr. Han is looking for the Queen Mother because of the title of King Xian Shu?" Qi Heng replied that there was no surprise.
"What does Han Zhang want the Queen Mother to do?"
"Xianggong Han still hopes that the Queen Mother can take the overall situation into consideration, avoid further troubles, and allow the officials to honor King Shu as the emperor."
Just like an old gangster, Han Zhang caught the Queen Mother, an old widow, and bullied her.
Reasoning has always been given only to the Queen Mother. From the time Zhao Zongquan came to the throne, she has always asked the Queen Mother to take into account the overall situation, and never let Zhao Zongquan take the overall situation into consideration.
"He's quite big-hearted and talks empty-handed. How come Han Zhang doesn't know how to take the overall situation into consideration and joins the ministers in opposing the government? Naturally, there won't be any disputes in the court."
"It's not just empty talk. Han Zhang made some promises to the Queen Mother on behalf of the official family."
The promise that Han Zhang could make to the Queen Mother was probably that Zhao Zongquan recognized his biological father and still recognized the Queen Mother's position as Queen Mother.
This is something that originally belonged to the Queen Mother, so what else does Zhao Zongquan need to promise?
The Queen Mother is the Queen Mother because the man she died was the Emperor, and now she is the Queen Mother.
It's not because Zhao Zongquan accepted the idea of being a cheap lady that the Queen Mother became the Queen Mother.
"Han Zhang's promise cannot be trusted. When the late emperor passed away, he entrusted Dazhou, the Queen Mother and the princesses in the palace to Han Zhang. He promised to take good care of Han Zhang, but what is he taking care of now!"
"That's what I told the Queen Mother as well." Qi Heng nodded and replied.
"Yuan Ruo, you still need to remind the Queen Mother to be more careful these days. Han Zhang has no principles in doing things. From the time he teamed up with Gu Tingye to play rogue, and from the Queen Mother's hand to Yu Xi, we know that this person has no bottom line and can do anything.
"
Sheng Changbai went to Qi Heng today to indirectly remind the Queen Mother.
In order to prevent the Queen Mother from being plotted by Han Zhang, it is absolutely not allowed for two people to drink together and let the Queen Mother seal Zhao Zongquan's imperial edict on conferring King Xianshu as Emperor while she was drunk.
"The dignified prime minister and the head of civil servants will not act too shabbily, right?"
Qi Heng still didn't know Han Zhang's background clearly enough, and he didn't believe that Han Zhang could do anything excessive to the Queen Mother.
"There are only things you can't think of, nothing is impossible. It's never wrong to remind the Queen Mother to be careful."
"It makes sense." Qi Heng responded: "When the Queen Mother calls again, I will remind her."
"The officials no longer go to court."
During the first meeting, Zhao Zongquan forcibly ended the meeting and then began to hide again.
Although it was a bit inconvenient not to go to court, Zhao Zongquan was not completely unable to manage the government affairs, so he directly called on Han Zhang and several of Ouyang's own lackeys.
The emperor and the prime minister are enough to decide 90% of the matters in the court, and they can hold small meetings to resolve them themselves.
This style of doing things really makes people complain.
"The official said that he has been overly worried during this period and has been unable to sleep at night. It is normal for him to really fall ill."
Sheng Hong's words were somewhat aimed at Zhao Zongquan.
After all, Zhao Zongquan had promoted Sheng Hong, and Sheng Hong had always been thinking of Zhao Zongquan.
Sheng Hong is not a person who likes fighting.
If it weren't for Sheng Changbai's strong opposition, Sheng Hong would never be able to escape the relationship.
It is actually normal for Sheng Hong to choose to go with the flow and follow Zhao Zongquan.
At least it was the result of two misunderstandings. Zhao Zongquan wanted to call him whatever he wanted, King Xian Shu.
Whether he is called Huang's father or Huang's uncle, it has nothing to do with the prosperity of the Sheng family.
"The officials may be guilty of a mental illness. Even if they can escape it for a while, they can't escape it forever."
Zhao Zongquan's body is also very intelligent when it comes to illness. Whenever he needs it, he can get sick at the right time, and when he needs to be well, he can be free from illness.
If a bad mood and depression can be considered a disease, it is normal for Zhao Zongquan to fall ill.
In the battle for the imperial examination, given the current situation, as long as the Queen Mother herself did not back down, Sheng Changbai would not have thought of the possibility of Zhao Zongquan's success.
Now Sheng Changbai also reminded the Queen Mother to be careful, as long as the Queen Mother is not plotted, and the discussion of the title of King Xian Shu can be raised as soon as possible.
This time the civil servant group will be able to win and restrain the imperial power from the ritual system.